CJI lays foundation for seven Patna HC infrastructure projects, stresses need for tech in judicial processes

Patna: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant on Saturday said capacity building in judicial infrastructure was essential to meet the demands of a growing population, rising litigation and disputes of increasing complexity.

Addressing dignitaries after laying the foundation stone for seven infrastructure projects in the century-old premises of the Patna High Court, he said appropriate use of technology can reduce delays, improve transparency and make courts more approachable for the elderly, persons with special disabilities and those living in remote areas, strengthening access to justice.


Justice Surya Kant said an institution’s strength is closely linked to its technological capacity. He added that when such initiatives are reliable, privacy-respective and sensitive to the realities of the digital divide, they become instruments of inclusion rather than exclusion.

Foundation stones were laid for seven new buildings — an ADR building and auditorium, an administrative block, a multi-level car parking facility, an IT building, a residential complex, an annexe building for the advocate general’s office, and a hospital.

He also dedicated an e-ACR platform for judicial officers, aimed at modernising the filing and processing of Annual Confidential Reports online. In addition, he virtually inaugurated the Judges’ guest house at Gaya Ji. Patna High Court Chief Justice designate Sangam Kumar Sahoo joined the function via videoconferencing.

Reflecting on Bihar’s legacy, Justice Surya Kant said institutions are not static monuments but living organisms. He said that Nalanda was known not merely for architecture but for openness to debate and disciplined reasoning, and that Patliputra was remembered not only as a seat of power but as a centre where administration, ethics and public welfare converged. In modern times, he said, the Patna High Court stands as a constitutional legacy that has witnessed the working of the republic, the adoption of the Constitution and the steady expansion of rights and liberties.

Later, at Pothahi on the outskirts of Patna, where he laid the foundation stone for a new campus of the Bihar Judicial Academy (BJA), the CJI said he was shocked by the high incidence of cyber crimes, which have led common people — especially senior citizens — to lose thousands of crores of rupees.

He said a judicial academy is the most effective platform for the district judiciary to keep pace with new complexities in civil and criminal law, including the fast-growing quagmire of cybercrimes such as “digital arrest.” He stressed that these emerging challenges make sensitive training and regular updating of judicial officers extremely important, adding that courts function through judges, and judges are shaped by training. Judicial academies, he said, are silent pillars sustaining the justice delivery system where legal knowledge is refined.